Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Sad bab Welcome, Welcome, welcome to the second hour of
the program, live from the United Center in Chicago, Illinois,
where we are day two of the Democratic National Convention,
and I am pleased as much. We're gonna do a
little inside baseball right now because joining me now, Morgan
would is the White House correspondent for the Black Information.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Network on iHeart Property or Project.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And I gotta tell you, Morgan, first of all, how
good is that theme song? She was over here dancing
on the stage with me too. A listener made that
from being ignorant.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Said, may I absolutely love that.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Same what we did for exactly So, Morgan, I am
fascinated by the entire concept of being a White House
correspondent because as a nerd for the news, I watch
all these things on you know, on TV. Can you
tell me just as a day okay, as a White
House correspondent, what is your day like?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, it's a bunch of hurry up and wait. I
can tell you that much.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I started out my very first event was with this administration,
the Biden Harris administration, and my first event that I
got invited to was the Juneteenth Proclamation. So as you
can imagine, working for the Black Information Network. That is
a huge issue, or it was a huge, huge issue
for the black community. So it was great to show
up to that and see that Biden then and work
(01:20):
to turn that into a federal holiday. So a day
in the life of a White House correspondent. Of course,
we're getting up and we've got all these different types
of information that we need to send a secret service
to vet us before we can even get to every day.
Oh yeah, oh my gosh, yeah, the other And trust
me that security measures are different every day.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
You might come in one gate one day.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Another gate another day, depending on what the event is
and getting there it could be like a hurry up
and wait.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
And now.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I just want to put it out there for the
ladies and maybe the guys who like to.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
Wear heels, Yeah, don't wear them. I noted that today
we did the R and C coverage too, and there
was a lot of women in sky heels and all
was like, precious. I don't think that's a good idea.
The DNC women got the NEMO right, like, there's sensible
shoes in this place.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
No pun intended.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
You want to put your best foot forward, but you
know what, it's it's yeah, just don't do it. Your
dogs are going to be barking by the end of
the day. And frankly, you know, it's comfy, cozy, but
at the same time professional.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So yeah, is it almost like a little fraternity all
the people that are in that room that are there
on a daily basis.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Whose job it is to be a White House correspondent? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Well, you know, well it depends on who you're working for, Okay, yeah, yeah,
for the most part, all of the press we tend
to work together. You know, if you're in the front row,
you know, you might want to move out the way,
and we work together to make sure that everybody gets
their coverage it is respectable.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
How do you decide what question because normally if you
get a question, you get one, maybe you get a
follow up. You're not getting an interview with the with
the spokesperson. How do you decide what is your lead question?
What are you going to go with?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Well, yeah, that depends on excuse me, what your listenership
or for us will be listeners, what's important to them.
You want to definitely cover what is important to your
audience base. And I think that's what each journalist has
an opportunity to do from that White House?
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Have you, as you're rather new to this administration. I
know that there are people who have covered multiple administrations
at White House Press Corps. What have you heard from
them about the differences between the administrations and are they
happy with the accessibility of the Biden Harris administration obviously
Joe Biden, Pryor and now Kamala Harris as the candidate.
(03:35):
Is that a different You're not covering the campaign though,
are you? After I said that, I'm like, wait a minute, no,
not so much. Well, I am covering well, we're covering
it all. We're gonna go it all. We're gonna cover DNC,
We're gonna cover them on the campaign trail. We're covering
walls as he does his stops as well. We're covering
I'm covering j d Vance and Trump too.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
So it's just a matter of gathering all the information
to make sure that the listener is well informed.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Right now, do you guys have to camp out in
that room and just wait for somebody to show up?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
More or less?
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yes, that press room, that press briefing room is definitely
a home base, and it's kind of small in there,
but you know, it's like you said, it's intimate, it's cozy,
and we get to know each other. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, have you ever asked a question and you
were like, oh my god, that was the best question
and best.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Answer I've ever gotten. Have you ever looked back on
something that you're like, nailed it?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Hmmm? I think any question is a good question, honestly.
I mean, jeez, anything that provides information to the listener
is a good question.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I would say, do you feel like, do you get
I'm trying to think of a way to ask this
And this is not necessarily about a democratic administration. This
is just years of watching spokespeople. Is it frustrating when
you're asking a direct question and not getting a direct answer?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
That's a lot of politics. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
You know, we know that people are trained media trains
who answer questions certain ways, and if they're not getting
or giving you the answer, then yeah, you might want
to ask it a different way and see what happens.
But the yeah, you just got to roll with the punches.
It is a bunch of hurry up and wait. It
is a bunch of uh, you know, maybe I'll get
that later. Maybe we can send that in an email and
(05:07):
they can send a quote back or something to that effect.
But yeah, it's it's pretty dynamic. It's never one way
and it's just gonna stay that way.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
It's very dynamic.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
To be a White House correspondent got to be flexible.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
When you started your career in journalism, Was this on
your radar?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
What?
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I'm born and raised in the DC area and absolutely
not politics, but no, But I will tell you this.
I feel like this is a divine task. And I
do think we are in a pivotal time and if
not me, then who why not?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
I totally agree with that.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
I mean, it's hard when you don't necessarily see yourself
in that role. When you do have that role to go,
wait a minute now, somebody else is looking at me
as an inspirational and aspirational thing to do.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Yeah, And as I've been covering the White House and
continuing to cover the White House, I have noticed that, you.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Know, actually this is really important. I like this.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I enjoy the different aspects because everybody wants to come
to the White House, athletes, musicians, other politicians, and everybody
loves being there. So and I was gonna say, it
probably doesn't matter what the administration is I don't know,
but the bottom line is it's one of those staple
locations that you never forget your visit there.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
You know, a lot of people wonder how much do you.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Do the reporters, like what kind of base knowledge do
you have about a topic?
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And this is something that I've seen in action where
you can tell immediately that this is the reporter's subject.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Do you know what I mean? Like, you have subjects
that you're really.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Passionate about, how much time or how much effort and
energy do you put into making sure you have a
basic understanding of a subject before you go in.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
And ask questions about it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
Absolutely, definitely doing my research and making sure, but also
keeping it a little surface because the average person is
not doing a deep dive, you know, So the average
person wants to get at least surface information and then
if I'm able to provide them with that, maybe they
will be inspired to deep dive themselves. And that's what
it's about.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
That's what I tell people all the time. I'm not
here to tell you what to think. I'm here to
inspire you to find out more. Yes, reasons for sure
you go. Are there any topics that you gravitate towards personally.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yes, of course we're working for the black information that worked,
anything that impacts the black community.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
And I absolutely love sports. So oh so did you
come from a sports background?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Uh? Yeah, Actually, well if you if you consider cheerleading
a sport, which I.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Do as a former cheerleader myself. Oh I do consider
cheerleading a sport, so just hand right, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
I have enjoyed covering various things like the Kansas City
Chief's White House visits. Oh I bet they've had a
few of them.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
So don't even really cool cost fans over here, so
do not. Well, the Ravens fan over here is okay too,
So you know you have your Super Bowl from when
Trent Dilfer was president or a quarterback there. What are
some of the things that you would like to see
come out of this convention? What are some of the
topics or conversations that you are looking for to either
do a story about or.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Bring back to your listeners.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Absolutely, gun reform has been a huge one. I've seen
a lot of people talking about gun reform. Of course,
women's reproductive rights has been a top ticket issue. Sheesh,
the list can go on and on. Voting rates of course.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
And I'm wondering, like how much space there is, if any,
because you're looking at your audience saying, I want to
bring them stuff that's.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Important to them.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
But I wonder how much daylight there is between white people,
Hispanic people, black people.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know what I'm saying, Like it seems like all
of these.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Issues, Oh, it impacts us all. To be honest, absolutely,
it does impact us all. But for example, you know,
going back to my first, very first visit the Juneteenth Proclamation,
obviously that was one.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
That impacted the black community.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Of black community was ecstatic to see that that became
a federal holiday. And so, you know, it's nice to
see those type of things after so long of you know,
nothing right that there is actual progress being made. And
then the following year there was an amazing June Seemed
concert that was put on on the White House South Lawn,
and so just to see that that celebration is scaling, right.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
You know, we've had conversations about June tenth on the show,
and you know, we have some listeners who are like,
we need another federal holiday because not everybody gets off
a federal holiday. But for me, that is a celebration
of that everyone in this company country should share because
we're celebrating a horrible thing that ended, right, I mean,
how that should for me, should be a celebration for everyone.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
Absolutely, the end of slavery and the actual end of
slavery should certainly be celebrated and celebrated amongst everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
It's okay, Morgan, what I mean? Do you did you?
Speaker 1 (09:46):
We asked you if you wanted to do this, but
what did you aspire to do when you got into journalism?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Initially, oh man.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Sports sideline reporting or something to that effect.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
But I definitely think i'd.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Lied reporting for the biggest game in the.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
World, Like this is quite the sideline.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
I'm not mad at it. It's Trump versus Harris. So yeah,
let's see, you know, who wins matchup.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Exactly, see who's got more jerseys out there? And what
comes next?
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Have you had a chance to interview anyone that you
find particularly interesting in this this.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
So just before I came on with you, I just
spoke with Martin Luther King Junior the third and that
was so cool. And of course he talked about voting rights,
He talked about gun reform and gun violence, which of
course impacted his family you know, his father, Martin Luther King,
was shot, and he also explained that his grandmother was
also shot, So who knew that, you know, gun violence
had impacted the family on such a vast level. But yeah,
(10:39):
I think he is a very dynamic person. His wife
was amazing, and she spoke to me about women's reproductive rights.
So yeah, again, anybody can get behind these issues. And yeah,
well it's gonna be.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
An interesting conversation to have throughout the election cycle. Morgan Wood,
I really appreciate you making time for us, so.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I am so happy that you called me in.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Thanks.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Oh no, thank you, and keep you know, bringing the
stuff to your your listeners, and if you get any
good interviews, send them my way.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Oh a little back and forth, right, Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Morgan, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
That's Morgan Which she's the White House correspondent from the
Black Information Network.